While many entrepreneurs flock to new business parks, others discover community and affordability at a downtown landmark.
By: George Frey
Great location and low rents are some of the benefits that attract both young start-up firms and established businesses at Twenty Nassau, the five-story, red-brick building with the greening copper mansard roof at Chambers and Nassau streets.
One of downtown’s bigger office buildings, it is probably the most diverse of area buildings in the kind of businesses that have been making their homes there. With about 80 different companies and offices on the directory, and about a dozen retail spaces on the ground floor, the building, it seems, is a Mecca for young, small companies looking for a place to get started. Among them: a company that arranges bicycle trips, Princeton Touring Company, and Paradise Found, a clothing store. But some more-established outfits have made their homes there for years like The Gilded Lion, a well-known art and antiques business, and Michael Landau Associates, an architectural firm.
"I’m a one desk kind of office," says Andrew Baine, the director of the year-and-a-half-old Princeton Touring Company, the bicycling-trip organizer that runs only a handful of excursions a year for groups of high school students around the country. "It seems to me there are a lot of small operations in here. I think they’re here because of the good rent and the right-sized offices."
Mr. Baine says he pays about $350 a month for an office that is a hard-to-find size in the area a reasonable price for a great location. There may be offices in the area at an equivalent price, he says, but not in the downtown area, where he and other tenants enjoy being.
The interior of Twenty Nassau has its own unique character. In some places, it looks more like a battleship than an office building. Winding corridors and staircases make it difficult to navigate at times, especially on some of the lower floors. People who have been there for years actually say they still get lost now and then. Long halls lined with lettered frosted-glass doors are reminiscent of 19th century offices, and upper-floor views of the downtown and the university from windows that actually open are refreshing compared to today’s modern corporate buildings and their sealed windows. A lot of the offices at Twenty Nassau still have window air-conditioner units.
Mr. Baine sits in a small rectangular room about 100 square feet with painted paneling, one window and air-conditioner unit and a small closet near the door. Drab carpet and fluorescent lighting combine to give it the feel of an attic bedroom in an old house. The bathroom is across the hall.
"The campus priest told me about this place," says Mr. Baine, who recently graduated from Princeton University. "I wouldn’t have otherwise known about it."
Quality of life is most often cited as the reason why firms come and stay here, says Peter Wasem, an architect with Michael Landau Associates. "We don’t want to go to some box office where you have to drive to do everything," he says. "People have this notion that work has to look like a corporate headquarters. That can be a bit depressing." Mr. Wasem likens the sterile, corporate environment to "cookie-cutter" housing developments places that lack character.
John Burrows, an art director at Three Bears Communications, another small company says he likes the climate of the building and his neighbors. "We have friends on every floor here," he says. "We like to watch out for one another."
Mr. Burrows says the greatest attributes of the building are low rents and "the slowest elevator in Princeton." He says the rent would be three times what the company pays at many other office locations in Princeton, and the very old and slow elevator is the social epicenter of the building. "It’s the source of entertainment for everyone," he says. "That’s where you meet and talk to everyone that works here."
He also likes working where things happen and he has access to everything. "I like to work in town," he says. "I like to be able to walk to the post office, CVS, out for lunch anywhere I want."
Like many downtown merchants, tenants of Twenty Nassau have had to cope with parking problems. The building has limited parking on site and tenants say the rents for the spaces are expensive. The parking garage on the corner of Chambers and Hulfish streets does have a discount program for frequent in-town parkers, but still charges about $170 a month. Managers of the garage say there are different discounts that might reduce that figure.
However, retailers say they really rely more on repeat business than walk-in or drive-in traffic, and other tenants say they are willing to contend without much on-site parking and are doing what they have to do to get to work themselves. Parking far enough away on the free streets and walking is favored over feeding parking meters. Some who live close enough say they often ride bikes to work.
About a dozen retail storefronts line the ground floor of the Twenty Nassau. Elizabeth Godycki of CG Gallery Ltd. says she likes the location where her fine arts and framing store has been for 11 years. "There were times here that were hard," she says, referring to street construction on Chambers Street about 10 years ago. She said the construction caused her to have to make a lot of house calls to clients, but the business survived. "It’s become a handsome and wonderful street," she says, in part because they moved parking to the other side of the street.
Despite the age of the building, Ms. Godycki says she enjoys her location because of the look and layout of the interior space. She says the high ceilings are complimentary to some of the businesses, including hers. Another advantage of renting at Twenty Nassau is no penalty, which some area landlords charge, for closing shop for 15 minutes if you have to run an errand. Still, she says, it’s not a stroller street or somewhere where many tourists and shoppers venture, unlike Palmer Square and Witherspoon Street areas, where shoppers seem to flock. She said she feels comfortable in the space and doesn’t mind being off the beaten path in the center of town.
Many stores in Twenty Nassau are established businesses that don’t require constant foot traffic, such as Leo Arons’ store, The Gilded Lion. Mr. Arons’ antique shop has been at a variety of spaces in Twenty Nassau for over 20 years. Like Ms. Godycki, he likes the location because it is not overrun with foot traffic. His business does well because it is specialized and has old customers, he says.
"Of the retail establishments here, I think I’ve been here the longest," he says. "I’ve really enjoyed my association with my neighbors and the landlords. I think there’s an entrepreneurial spirit in this building that you don’t otherwise see. There’s a spirit of adventure at Twenty Nassau."
One of those newcomer entrepreneurs to Twenty Nassau is Karen Del Rossi of Paradise Found, a shop on the Nassau Street side of the building near Bank Street. Ms. Del Rossi opened her doors in December selling beach, golf and casual weekend wear. She also likes the cheaper rent and the fact that there are no restrictions on the hours she keeps.
"The other shops around town were too small," she says. "But I’ve already outgrown my dressing area here. And we’re off the beaten path. I’d rather be two blocks over, but there’s potential business here.
"We wanted to keep the spirit of the clothing throughout the store, casual, relaxed, fun while letting you feel you are on vacation as you shop," she said, adding that she hopes the rest of the businesses community and shoppers in this town are ready for her business.
"(The town) is a little conservative," she said. "I’m ready to shake things up a bit around here."

